Vascular diseases involving consequential complications such as heart attack or stroke are among the most common medical conditions having a fatal outcome. Heart attack is caused by a disease of the coronary vessels, wherein arteriosclerotic deposits, the plaque, promote local thrombus formation which can lead to a total blockage (occlusion) of coronary arteries and consequently to a blocking of the blood flow. In the majority of cases the occlusion is treated these days by means of what is teamed PCTA (Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty). Toward that end the constrictions in the coronary arteries are stretched with the aid of a balloon catheter. However, clinical studies have revealed that restenosis occurs in many patients after application of this method. The restenosis rate can be lowered through the insertion of a stent into a widened constriction.
In order to reduce the restenosis rate further, a procedure called DCA (Direct Coronary Atherectomy) can be performed which represents a method for recanalizing stenosed coronary arteries and is also referred to as “debulking”. An atherectomy device used for this purpose comprises an atherectomy catheter having a metal housing in which there is contained what is termed a “cutter” for removing for removing plaque. The “cutter”, which is a conically ground excising blade, is connected via a flexible link to a motor of the atherectomy device disposed outside of the atherectomy catheter, which motor drives the cutter at approx. 500 rpm. Atherectomy catheters of said kind are described for example in DE 10 2004 008 371 B4 and DE 10 2005 059 271 A1. In addition to a cutter for removing plaque the atherectomy catheters known from DE 10 2004 008 371 B4 and DE 10 2005 059 271 A1 also have in each case an OCT sensor (OCT: Optical Coherence Tomography) or an OCT sensor and an IVUS sensor (IVUS: Intravascular Ultrasound) by means of which in each case image information relating to plaque and vascular walls, e.g. inflammatory processes, can be acquired which is important for an operation to remove the plaque. In particular the vascular section “blocked” in each case can be detected and the removal of the plaque controlled and monitored during and after the medical intervention.
A drawback with said atherectomy catheters is that they have an inflexible stationary tip. This can easily result in an injury to a vascular wall. Furthermore, tightly curved or narrow vascular sections cannot be reached with the atherectomy catheter due to the inflexible tip.